This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. This section also provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
Many products and devices exist in the marketplace that produce a sensory effect. A sensory effect may be any outcome that is detectible by one or more of the human senses. For example, a sensory effect may include a display of light, a sound, or a tactile response. One category of products and devices that produce a visual sensory effect is a wearable light-emitting product such as a light-emitting shoelace or a light-emitting bracelet or necklace. Many other products that produce a visual sensory effect exist as well such as toys, signs, decorative home lighting and the like.
More and more objects and devices, such as aforementioned objects and devices that produce sensory effects, are becoming tied together with wireless network technology. Still further, consumers desire to communicate and connect with others regarding various common interests and activities. Yet none of the many visual sensory effect (i.e., light-up) toys, wearables or decorative lighting products on the market build on the benefits of wireless network technology to interact and/or operate as a system without wire or cable connection.
Further, many existing products or systems that permit interaction require conventional control systems to communicate, if at all, to neighboring devices using user interfaces displayed on smart phones or other computing devices. Few of these devices use natural interaction methods, body movements such as jumping, stomping, hand clapping, gestures, or dance movements or bio-feedback as a trigger for light signals or other sensory effects to be communicated to surrounding devices or other users. Furthermore, there has been no technology developed yet for a connected sensory effect product for large crowds on the street where crowd interactions happen, unfiltered, spontaneous and in real time.
Another limitation of existing networking devices and methods is that communication and networking often requires a blanket communications network such as a cellular network to provide the infrastructure to disseminate communications across connected devices. There exists a need, therefore, for sensory effect devices that provide networking and communication capabilities wirelessly without the need for connection to a third-party, or blanket communications network.